TEL AVIV – Israeli economic corruption has increased since the year 2000, making it one of the most fraudulent in the world, local and international reports showed on Wednesday.

A 2005 World Bank report said Israel was one of the most hazardous nations, citing its unstable and inefficient government and its relatively high level of corruption among its leadership, as well a low ranking in law enforcement.

Economists from the Business Data Israel information group, decreased ratings in the quality of Israeli leadership hurts the country’s

The efficiency of Israel’s leadership, which includes public services, currently ranks at 80.8 percent, BMI reported. Such a score is considered low in comparison to other developed nations such as The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Spain, whose average rank stood at 87.7 percent.

The ranking score of Israel’s ability to implement law, which related to the faith put into its legal system, was 74.4 percent, far lower than those of other countries. Spain ranked at 85 percent, France at 88.9 percent, the United States at 92.3 percent, Germany at 93.2 percent, the United Kingdom at 93.7 percent and the Netherlands stood at 95.2 percent.

Regarding government corruption, which includes the use of authority to achieve private and personal profits, Israel was given a score of 80.8 percent. Italy scored lower at 74.9 percent, while the average rank among developed countries was 91.4 percent.

Israel currently ranks lower than any developed country regarding the issue of government influence over the free market, which includes supervision over prices and banks, with a score of 71.9 percent. The average rank was 90.6 percent.

Finally, Israel scores the lowest among all Western nations regarding political stability, which includes the risks the government faces with regard to foreign sources, such as terror, bombings and local violence, with a rank of a mere 15 percent – far from the average score of 83.5 percent.